This volume reviews, for the first time, the broad range of issues that affect the welfare of commercially farmed ratites. Although ratites incorporate several families of flightless birds this book focuses on the most commonly farmed ratites, the ostrich, emu and rhea. The readers are taken on a journey through all sectors of the industry, which include breeding, incubation, hatching, brooding, rearing, growth, transport and processing, with an emphasis on husbandry and management protocols that can impact bird welfare and health. Also discussed is the structure and sensory innervation of the skin and digits of the birds, and the potential welfare implications of industry practices on these structures. Each chapter in this volume focuses on a particular aspect of the commercial farming of ratites with contributing authors from a broad range of disciplines.

In today's world, we are witnessing simultaneous breakthroughs in reproductive technologies, genomics, and molecular biology. Advances in molecular genetic technology and understanding of the bovine genome have led to the development of tools that can be used to enhance profitability on cow-calf enterprises. Factors Affecting Calf Crop: Biotechnology of Reproduction provides a detailed compilation of current and forthcoming technology for managing reproduction in cattle.

The book discusses topics such as: approved techniques for controlling the estrous cycle in cattle; managing follicular growth with progesterone, estrogens, and prostaglandins; freezing, thawing, and transfer of cattle embryos; application of embryo transfer to the beef cattle industry; embryo transfer in topically adapted cattle; new factors affecting bull fertility; embryo collection and utilization technology, in vitro fertilization, somatic cell cloning, and genetic technologies; uses of real-time ultrasound; and sexed semen.

Over 25 leading animal scientists have combined their expertise to produce the first single-source reference that covers successful reproductive techniques that will, most likely, be the wave of the future. Expansive in scope, the book addresses current biotechnologies as they impact the production of beef cattle. Written at a level to appeal to the researcher, commercial producer, or student, Factors Affecting Calf Crop: Biotechnology of Reproduction presents you with a wealth of technologies applicable to animal agriculture.

Better validation of indigenous domestic animal genetic resources is becoming more important with regard to the potential of livestock for poverty alleviation and income generation. To improve indigenous breeds for sustainable income and employment generation, the methods to be employed are the same as developed in systematic breeding programs, be it for cross-breeding or selective breeding within a specific breed. This book systematically introduces the reader to the breed improvement theory and illustrates the theory with practical examples and case studies. The book is addressed to animal science teachers, to undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as to decision makers in the state and central livestock departments.

Keeping Geese is a complete guide to the domesticated goose. It shows how this intelligent bird has been absorbed into different cultures throughout history: from the taming of the Greylag and the Swan goose to the exhibition of the mighty Toulouse, the story of the goose is intimately involved in both Eastern and Western cultures.

This collection features three peer-reviewed literature reviews on feather-pecking in poultry. The first chapter describes the three main forms of injurious pecking (IP) in poultry: tissue pecking (TP), aggressive pecking (AP) and feather-pecking (FP). It discusses the origin of severe FP, the most severe form of IP. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the risk factors and current management strategies used to reduce IP in poultry production. The second chapter assesses the use of beak trimming of laying hens as an effective preventative strategy for injurious pecking (IP). It considers the welfare costs and benefits of the two different methods: hot blade (HB) and infrared (IR). The chapter concludes with a section on alternative strategies that could reduce the need for beak trimming. The final chapter reviews the different types of featherpecking and considers the origins of this behaviour. The chapter offers a detailed discussion on the management techniques available for the prevention of feather-pecking, during both rearing and the laying period.

For many outsiders, the word ""ranching"" conjures romantic images of riding on horseback through rolling grasslands while living and working against a backdrop of breathtaking mountain vistas. In this absorbing memoir of life in the Wyoming high country, Mary Budd Flitner offers a more authentic glimpse into the daily realities of ranch life - and what it takes to survive in the ranching world. Some of Flitner's recollections are humorous and lighthearted. Others take a darker turn. A modern-day rancher with decades of experience, Mary has dealt with the hardships and challenges that come with this way of life. She's survived harsh conditions like the ""winter of 50 below"" and economic downturns that threatened her family's livelihood. She's also wrestled with her role as a woman in a profession that doesn't always treat her as equal. But for all its challenges, Flitner has also savored ranching's joys, including the ties that bind multiple generations of families to the land. My Ranch, Too begins with the story of her great-grandfather, Daniel Budd, who in 1878 drove a herd of cattle into Wyoming Territory and settled his family in an area where conditions seemed favorable. Four generations later, Mary grew up on this same portion of land, learning how to ride horseback and take care of livestock. When she married Stan, she simply moved from one ranch to another, joining the Flitner family's Diamond Tail Ranch in Wyoming's Big Horn Basin. The Diamond Tail is not Mary's alone to run, as she is quick to acknowledge. Everybody pitches in, even the smallest of children. But when Mary takes the responsibility of gathering a herd of cattle or makes solo rounds at the crack of dawn to check on the livestock, we have no doubt that this is indeed her ranch, too.

Farm animals have been disappearing from our fields as the production of food has become a global industry. We no longer know for certain what is entering the food chain and what we are eating. We are reaching a tipping point as the farming revolution threatens our countryside, health and the quality of our food wherever we live in the world. From the antibiotics routinely given to industrially farmed animals to the chemicals that are killing our insect populations, Farmageddon is a fascinating and terrifying investigative journey behind the closed doors of a runaway industry across the world - from Europe to the USA, from China to Latin America. It is both a wake-up call to change our current food production and eating practices, and an attempt to find a way to a better farming future.

Sheep are the thread that runs through the history of the English countryside. Our fortunes were once founded on sheep, and this book tells a story of wool and money and history, of merchants and farmers and shepherds, of English yeomen and how they got their freedom, and above all, of the soil. Sheep have helped define our culture and topography, impacting on everything from accent and idiom, architecture, roads and waterways, to social progression and wealth. With his eye for the idiosyncratic, Philip meets the native breeds that thrive in this country; he tells stories about each breed, meets their shepherds and owners, learns about their past - and confronts the present realities of sheep farming. Along the way, Philip meets the people of the countryside and their many professions: the mole-catchers, the stick-makers, the tobacco-twisters and clog-wrights. He explores this artisan heritage as he re-discovers the countryside, and finds a lifestyle parallel to modern existence, struggling to remain unchanged - and at its heart, always sheep.

Nutrient management is an important aspect of feeding livestock and poultry. Today, there is more attention directed toward this issue in animal production than ever before. The heightened awareness of the environmental impacts associated with animal production has caused animal nutritionists to refocus their thoughts, practices, and expectations regarding how nutrients are supplied to animals. In addition, the increase in the size and intensity of modern production units demands new technologies for enhancing nutrient utilization and for reducing the amount of nutrients excreted. Covering these issues and more, Nutrient Management of Food Animals to Enhance and Protect the Environment is a reference tool for agricultural industry leaders, private practitioners, government agencies, and researchers.

Three main factors affect the quality and composition of meat in farm animals. Production conditions determine the composition of the meat, while marketing and postmortem periods have a major bearing on the visual appearance and ultimate eating experience for the consumer. It is often difficult to compare research results from different countries since meat quality is assessed by a wide variety of procedures. Quality and Grading of Carcasses of Meat Animals reviews the development of commercial grading or classification schemes on a world-wide basis, and it provides a broad outline of the most common subjective and objective procedures for the assessment of meat quality.
The book provides reviews on:
Ante- and post-mortem effects on meat quality
Reducing fatness in meat animals
Prediction of carcass composition and meat quality
World carcass and grading systems
Electronic identification of animals

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on decision support systems (DSS) in agriculture. The first chapter provides a review of DSS in agriculture, whilst addressing the key questions surrounding their use for farm soil and crop management. The different aspects of agricultural DSS design, implementation and operation are also discussed. The second chapter assesses the role of DSS for pest monitoring and management through information technology such as, remote sensing, GIS, spectral indices, image-based diagnostics, and phenology-based degree day models. The third chapter discusses the potential of implementing DSS within the growing mechanisation in greenhouses. It examines differences in development and application of deterministic explanatory and data-based models for real-time control and DSS. The fourth chapter explores the key issues associated with deploying DSS in precision agriculture, whilst also considering their human and social aspects. The chapter also considers how future research on DSS can be moulded to improve productivity in a precision agriculture setting. The final chapter outlines the importance of a participatory approach in DSS development, whilst also offering examples of climate-based DSS for crop and land management, pest and disease management, and livestock (dairy) management.

Factors Affecting Calf Crop summarizes the latest information available from leading cattle physiologists and geneticists regarding factors known to influence the production of live calves at weaning. You get practical information on management techniques for improving reproduction efficiency in the herd. You'll also learn about the functioning of the reproductive system and how this may affect reproductive processes in the cow herd. Managers will benefit from a clearer understanding of the factors known to limit efficient reproduction, while veterinarians and other professionals who advise cattlemen will appreciate the substantial reference material and color photographs for defining cow condition scores. Color photographs are also used to illustrate the discussions of testicular thermographies and their applications.
Other chapters in the book cover developments in improving reproductive performance of the replacement heifer, the brood cow, and the bull. Topics on reproduction include physiology/endocrinology, the use of growth promotants, genetics and physiological and economic considerations in selecting the age to breed heifers, heritability of fertility, length of the breeding season, prepartum and postpartum nutrition, nursing by the calf, cloning of embryos, and much more.

Meat and dairy production and consumption are in crisis. Globally, 70 billion farm animals are used for food production every year. It is well accepted that livestock production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicts a rough doubling of meat and milk consumption in the first half of the 21st century, with particularly rapid growth occurring in the developing economies of Asia. What will this mean for the health and wellbeing of those animals, of the people who consume ever larger quantities of animal products, and for the health of the planet itself? The new edition of this powerful and challenging book explores the impacts of the global growth in the production and consumption of meat and dairy, including cultural and health factors, and the implications of the likely intensification of farming for both small-scale producers and for animals. Several chapters explore the related environmental issues, from resource use of water, cereals and soya, to the impact of livestock production on global warming and issues concerning biodiversity, land use and the impacts of different farming systems on the environment. A final group of chapters addresses ethical and policy implications for the future of food and livestock production and consumption. Since the first edition, published in 2010, all chapters have been updated, three original chapters re-written and six new chapters added, with additional coverage of dietary effects of milk and meat, antibiotics in animal production, and the economic, political and ethical dimensions of meat consumption. The overall message is clearly that we must eat less meat to help secure a more sustainable and equitable world.

Animal behaviour and, as a result, animal welfare are increasingly complex areas of study, with the diversity of the animal kingdom and new research findings ensuring there is no one, easy answer. Instead, we need to take a holistic approach, combining scientific principles with both philosophical and ethical considerations to develop all-inclusive policies and legislation that decide how society should interact with domestic, farm and native animals. With a focus on domestic animals, while also referring to wild species to reinforce the arguments, this book: * promotes direct observation for those who claim to be interested in animals, their behaviour, and their welfare. * considers the concept of consciousness, how it can be assessed, and how it relates to suffering and animal welfare more widely. * emphasizes the need to understand better how animals behave both with humans and outside of human influence, considering the diversity of behaviour and sensorial capacities across species. * includes author knowledge and expertise across a wide range of animal species, from primates to farm animals, and across animal living situations from intensive to free ranging. We are far from having all the answers, so this book also raises questions that require further research and focus, such as the way animals are likely to act based on their recent and whole-of-life experiences. Still, this review of the topic, an updated translation of the French language work Vivre parmi les animaux, mieux les comprendre, is an invaluable resource for everyone with an interest in animal behaviour and welfare.

This groundbreaking volume presents a comprehensive view of the many concerns of those involved with livestock and meat marketing. During the 1980s, livestock production faced some critical changes. Product and feed prices became less stable, cycles lost their century-old patterns, both competition and trade barriers seemed to rise, and market outlets shrank in number and ownership diversity. At the same time, the United States demography became increasingly older, while new and confusing health concerns about red meat arose rapidly. This practical book introduces the reader to a range of issues of the livestock marketing system and looks ahead to such future issues as biotechnology, human health, and food safety. Considerable interest is given to international trade, an increasingly important sector in the market.Marketing Livestock and Meat is a concise and convenient compendium of diverse information. It provides functionaries in the system with an overall concept of how the market functions as a whole to promote better skills and strategies for marketing of red meats. The author describes specific applications vital to successful operation of the complex and far-reaching marketing system of meat and livestock, including international trade, grades and grading, health matters, demand for meat, price reporting and electronic markets, costs and benefits, and their combination into marketing strategies for producers. To supplement the research, theories, and strategies presented in this important book, there are many charts, graphs, and photographs. All persons connected to the marketing of meat and livestock--undergraduate students in North America, foreign students interested in exporting meat to the U. S., and most segments of the livestock sector, including supply and processing firms and retailers--will benefit from this important book.

Globally, nearly 70 billion animals are farmed annually for meat, milk and eggs. Two-thirds of these are farmed intensively. The views held by food companies on animal stewardship, and the management practices and processes that they adopt are, therefore, of critical importance in determining the welfare of these animals. Yet, despite the scale of the food industry's impact, farm animal welfare remains a relatively immature management issue. There is a lack of consensus around the specific responsibilities companies have for farm animal welfare, and around how companies should treat the animals in their or in their suppliers' care. This book, The Business of Farm Animal Welfare, provides an extensive, authoritative analysis of current corporate practice on farm animal welfare. It critically reviews and assesses the ethical and business case for action. Through a series of practitioner case-studies, it describes how companies have addressed farm animal welfare in their operations and supply chains. It analyses the key barriers to companies adopting higher standards of farm animal welfare, and offers a series of practical recommendations to companies, consumers and policy makers on the role that they might play in raising farm animal welfare standards across the food industry. As the first comprehensive account of business and farm animal welfare, this book is an essential resource for researchers, practitioners and general readers looking to understand and influence corporate practice on farm animal welfare.

A striking and famous feature of the English landscape, Dartmoor is a beautiful place, with a sense of wildness and mystery. This book provides a new perspective on an important aspect of Dartmoor's past. Its focus is transhumance: the seasonal transfer of grazing animals to different pastures. In the Middle Ages, intensive practical use was made of Dartmoor's resources. Its extensive moorlands provided summer pasture for thousands of cattle from the Devon lowlands, which flowed in a seasonal tide, up in the spring and down in the autumn. This book describes, for the first time, the social organisation and farming practices associated with this annual transfer of livestock. It also presents evidence for a previously unsuspected Anglo-Saxon pattern of transhumance in which lowland farmers spent the summers living with their cattle on the moor. Winner of the Devon Book of the Year Award 2013.

The beekeeping book guides you all the way from choosing and obtaining your bees, housing them and maintaining the hive through the year, to dealing with pests and diseases, and harvesting the honey. The honey book explains the remarkable powers of honey and features safe natural remedies and preparations, as well as beauty products, from scrubs and facial softeners to aromatic creams and lotions. It offers a fascinating insight into the dynamics of the unique bee community, with amazing pictures from inside the hive. It provides over 40 classic recipes that make the most of this nutritious ingredient in all kinds of delicious ways, from sweet-and-sour marinades to delectable honey pastries. It comes with over 675 beautiful photographs. With the current interest in beekeeping and its delicious end product, honey, this boxed book set is perfect for beekeepers and cooks. Advice is given on understanding the lifestyle of bees and the hierarchy in the hive, as well as every aspect of caring for bees, how to house them and maintain the hive, the plants and crops they need, and dealing with common problems and diseases. As well as providing a fascinating history, the honey book features recipes for using honey in cooking, healing remedies, beauty care and household products. These captivating volumes will inspire both the cook and beekeeper to start a colony and harvest the products of the hive.